When BSL applies
The Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 were made on 19 Nov 2025 and come into force on 1 Oct 2026[Building Safety Levy (England) Regs 2025 (SI 2025/1236)]. The levy is charged under the Building Safety Act 2022 framework [Building Safety Act 2022]. It applies to building-control applications for new residential development in England of 10 or more dwellings submitted on or after 1 Oct 2026; schemes of fewer than 10 units are outside scope.
Exemptions
Exempt development includes affordable housing, homes built by not-for-profit registered providers, NHS hospitals and medical facilities, care homes, supported housing, children's homes, domestic-abuse refuges, armed-forces accommodation, criminal-justice accommodation, and any development of fewer than 10 dwellings. The affordable-housing exemption is tied to a planning obligation securing the affordable tenure, which is where the levy and the s.106 deed intersect in practice.
Rates set per local authority
Rates are charged per square metre of chargeable floorspace (gross internal area, RICS Code of Measuring Practice 6th edition) and are set for each local-authority area, weighted by local house prices, so higher-value areas carry higher rates. Development on previously developed land is charged at half the rate that applies to greenfield land in the same area. The per-authority rate schedule is set out in the regulations.
BSL alongside CIL and S106
BSL sits alongside CIL and S106 as a parallel charge, not a substitute. The CIL Regs 2010 reg 122 necessity test for S106 obligations is unaffected by BSL. Viability appraisal layers BSL as a build-cost line; it is not a deed obligation.
Payment timing
The levy is enforced through building control: a completion certificate cannot be issued until the levy has been paid, so BSL falls due late in the build programme. The development manager should layer the payment into the cashflow appraisal at that point rather than at commencement.